Month: January 2026

Sermon Idea: The Lord Jesus lives and acts to make all things new. 

Introduction: Is there anything we wouldn’t do, any place we wouldn’t go, any person we wouldn’t seek if it meant our hurting child might be made well? 

Jairus has little time to waste, but he knows where to go and whom to seek. The urgency of the moment is vividly described in the Gospel According to Mark through dialogue.

The worried father rushes to Jesus, “… and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” (Mk 5:22–23)

Jesus agrees to go to Jairus only for someone to meet them on the way to inform them that she has died. Why bother the teacher any further? It is suggested. She’s dead already. Leave Jesus alone.   

Jesus presses on with Jairus, but only takes Peter, James, and John into the house. This is what we read in Mark 5:41-42 after Jesus enters the room. 

. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. (Mk 5:40–42)

This is a miracle. It is not random or arbitrary; it is purposeful. It is a miraculous sign that not only testifies to Jesus’ divinity—He is God, but also that the Kingdom of God is coming on earth as it is in heaven. God’s new creation has begun with the arrival of the Son.

As a sign, it signifies a truth beyond itself. Those who saw it and those who now hear of it are to believe in Jesus Christ. 

This is how the miracles of Christ function in the gospels. Whether it is a healing, an exorcism, or a resuscitation, they are signs of God’s kingdom in Jesus Christ. 

What about the miraculous signs in the books of Acts? The Apostles perform miraculous signs in the name of Jesus. For example, Peter heals the lame beggar in the name of Jesus in Acts 3:6 and performs many signs and wonders in Acts 5:12-16. 

Our text this morning includes two more miraculous signs performed by the apostles, with, surprisingly, more details than before. Not only do we know their conditions and where they live, but we also know their names, Aeneas and Dorcas, also called Tabitha. It is worth noting that only a letter separates Jesus’ statement, “Talitha cumi” in Mark 5, from Peter’s “Tabitha, arise” in Acts 9:40. Surely, we are meant to notice the similarities and reflect on them. 

In Acts, the miraculous signs serve in the same way they do in the gospels, but with an important added element. Jesus has been crucified, buried, and risen. He is the ascended Lord, but he is not physically present. 

In Acts, the miraculous signs bear witness to the fact that the risen Christ is living and active. With every miracle, the risen Christ validates the apostles’ preaching and demonstrates that he reigns. The ascension of Christ does not mean the absence of Christ nor the irrelevance of his kingdom. 

On the contrary, Christ is risen and lives. His kingdom will know no end, and everyone, everywhere, should repent and believe in Christ.  

Peter lives and does ministry with a vivid awareness of Christ’s Lordship. Jesus’ rule and reign inform Peter’s thoughts, words, and actions. 

Now, the miraculous nature of these signs, as a gift through human servants, ended with the apostolic era. God still heals and performs miracles in accordance with his will, but these signs were for a particular purpose at a particular time in redemptive history. 

That said, is there not something we can learn from the apostles living with such a vivid awareness of Christ’s lordship? Perhaps I can say it this way. 

To what degree does Jesus being alive and reigning inform your thought life, words, and actions? Do you believe that if the reigning Christ can heal a paralyzed man, he can tend to the heaviest burdens of your heart? 

In your battle against temptation and sin, do you fight with an awareness that Christ lives, reigns, and is for you? 

Are you trying to improve your marriage apart from the astonishing reality that Christ lives, reigns, and is at work to make all things new? 

The Lord Jesus lives and acts to make all things new. The sign of raising Aeneas bears witness to that, the sign of raising Tabitha bears witness to that, and every person who repents and believes the gospel bears witness to that. Let’s take them one at a time. 

I.) The sign of raising Aeneas (Acts 9:32-35) 

The story of Saul is interuppted and Luke returns to the ministry of Peter, who is traveling here and there. He makes his way down to Lydda, where he comes upon Aeneas. 

33 There he found a man named Aeneas, bedridden for eight years, who was paralyzed. 34 And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. 35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. (Ac 9:33–35)

Aeneas has been bedridden for nearly a decade. Perhaps he has a stroke and has been paralyzed since. The text tells us that he is found after Peter came to the “saints who lived in Lydda,” suggesting that Aeneas is a brother in Christ.  Beyond that, we have few details, and the narrative is rather brief. 

The fundamental truth we are to draw from this healing is that Jesus restores Aeneas to health. Peter does not heal him, nor does he do anything by his own power. Peter is merely a faithful conduit for the grace and power of Christ. Listen to his words, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you…”

At the risk of belaboring this point, the ascension of Christ does not mean the absence of Christ. He lives and acts to make all things new. 

We need to take note of what the sign leads to. Those who saw Aeneas turn to the Lord. This is the language of repentance. To turn to the Lord is to turn from ourselves and the idols of our hearts to God in repentance and faith. 

One question worth asking is why Jesus leaves some of us as we are—sick, disabled, frail. An honest reading of the Gospels must lead us to conclude that Jesus and the apostles likely did not heal every single person. 

We can learn a lot from listening to the godly voices of disabled brothers and sisters in this regard. One voice worth listening to is Joni Eareckson Tada’s. At the age of 17, she dived into shallow water, breaking her neck, resulting in her becoming quadriplegic. She is now 76 years old and has spent the vast majority of her life in a wheelchair. She has spoken and written extensively about disability and the Christian life. 

In one piece of writing, she hopes for the possibility of taking her wheelchair to heaven.  

I sure hope I can bring this wheelchair to heaven.Now, I know that’s not theologically correct.

But I hope to bring it and put it in a little corner of heaven, and then in my new, perfect, glorified body, standing on grateful glorified legs, I’ll stand next to my Savior, holding his nail-pierced hands.

I’ll say, “Thank you, Jesus,” and he will know that I mean it, because he knows me.

He’ll recognize me from the fellowship we’re now sharing in his sufferings.

And I will say, ”Jesus, do you see that wheelchair? You were right when you said that in this world we would have trouble, because that thing was a lot of trouble. But the weaker I was in that thing, the harder I leaned on you. And the harder I leaned on you, the stronger I discovered you to be. It never would have happened had you not given me the bruising of the blessing of that wheelchair.”

Joni’s perspective regarding her own experience has a lot to teach us about suffering. In God’s sovereign providence, he gives us— the bruisings of the blessing— a greater good which comes through suffering and a greater intimacy with God than we would have had otherwise. 

II.) The sign of raising Tabitha (Acts 9:36-41) 

The text changes scenes in verse 36, and we learn of a female disciple named Tabitha. That was her Aramaic name, and her Greek name was Dorcas. She was a woman of good works and acts of charity, beloved by her community. When she passes, they wash her body and lay her in the upper room, perhaps showing their hope that God may miraculously restore her life. They learn that Peter is nearby and seek him out. Look with me at verse 38. 

38 Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him, urging him, “Please come to us without delay.” 

39 So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas made while she was with them. (Ac 9:37–39)

Before we get to the miracle itself, we need to listen to the details that Like shares with us. Why does he give us this picture of a deceased woman surrounded by widows whom she cared for? The tunics and garments were made by Dorcas and given to the widows 

We are given these details, I think, to take note of what the grace of God looks like in the life of a believer. Tabitha lived in such a way that her death was a loss felt in the community of faith. People surrounded her dead body with tears in their eyes because of how she cared for them. 

What result does your presence have on the community of faith? Would people take a deep breath if you left, because you’re that difficult? Would your absence be felt? Is your presence edifying, enriching, Christ-exalting? 

Dorcas was a sister touched by the grace of God in Christ, and it overflowed, so that her practice of religion was pure and undefiled as James describes. 

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (Jas 1:27)

Just as Jesus ushered everyone out of the room when he raised Talitha, so Peter ushers out these widows. Once alone, Peter kneels, prays, and then commands Tabitha to arise. 

40 But Peter put them all outside, and knelt down and prayed; and turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. 41 And he gave her his hand and raised her up. Then, calling the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. 43 And he stayed in Joppa for many days with one Simon, a tanner. (Ac 9:40–43)

Just as before, it is Jesus, not Peter, who resuscitates Tabitha. She is restored to life, leading many to believe in the Lord. That is the point. Your Jesus is the one who raises the dead. We are to believe and put our trust in him. 

28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. (Jn 5:28–29)

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (Jn 11:25–26)

These miraculous signs of Christ anticipate a greater act. One day Christ will raise the dead in Christ to life. Will you be among them? Or will you be resurrected to judgment? 

The good news of the gospel, for those who believe, is that God judges their sin sufficiently in the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. Since the judgment has already happened, the only thing awaiting the saints in resurrection is life. 

But for all who clutch their fist, love themselves, and die at enmity with God, the only thing that awaits them is a resurrection to judgment. 

III.) The sign of repentance and believing in the Lord (Acts 9:35, 42) 

35 And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord.  (Ac 9:35)

42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. (Ac 9:42.)

The most evident and clear witness to Christ’s lordship and his act to bring about the new creation is the salvation of sinners. 

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Co 5:17)

Each one of you is a walking, talking witness that Christ lives, reigns, and is making all things new. Isn’t that good? Every repentant sinner who places their faith in Christ is a witness that Christ lives, reigns, and is making all things new. 

It is not necessarily true that we no longer see miracles. We are walking miracles of grace, whose dead hearts were raised to new life in Jesus Christ. 

The Lord Jesus lives and acts to make all things new

Sermon Idea: To encounter Christ is to change, so that we follow Jesus in the costly life of Christian discipleship lived in and with the church.

Introduction: Put yourself in their shoes. This man’s reputation preceded him. Word had certainly gotten around that Saul was responsible for much of the suffering that the church had experienced. It was Saul, after all, who was standing in approval as Stephen’s blood-soaked garments were laid at his feet. Saul’s zeal against Christ and his church is described with violent language in Acts 8:3 and 9:1. 

3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. (Ac 8:3)

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. (Ac 9:1–2)

Is there any wonder as to why the disciples in Jerusalem are afraid of Saul? Wouldn’t you be? They are not only scared but also doubt the sincerity of his conversion. Could such a violent persecutor of the church really become a Christian brother?

Ananias and Sapphira professed Christ, but their lives betrayed that profession, and so they proved to be false converts. Simon the magician believed and was baptized, but his life quickly betrayed his profession, revealing him to be a false convert as well. 

How can the disciples be assured that Saul has truly encountered Christ? What are the evidence that he has been converted? We will provide answers to these questions, but there is one factor that distinguishes Saul from Ananias, Sapphira, and Simon: He changed. 

What happened to Saul on the road to Damascus was more than a change of occupation. It was more than an emotional experience. Saul encountered the risen Christ and before his glory was changed. What happened to him was spiritual in nature. His dead, rebellious heart was changed to a living, submissive heart through faith in Jesus Christ. 

The change wrought by Paul’s encounter with Christ is so apparent that he says in Galatians 2:20, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Ga 2:20)

To encounter Christ is to change, so that we follow Jesus in the costly life of Christian discipleship lived in and with the church.

Our encounters with the risen Christ have not been as dramatic and visible as the Apostle Paul’s, but the result has been the same. If you have truly encountered the risen Christ through his Word, in the preaching of the gospel, and were saved, a glorious change was wrought in you. 

God made you alive in Christ, so that you would turn from your sin and idolatry to Christ through faith. A fundamental change took place, so that you are not the person you once were. You have received a new nature that produces new character because you are saved and now a disciple of Jesus Christ. 

As Paul teaches us elsewhere, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Co 5:17)

This change is not to immediate perfection. It is not a change to a life without spiritual struggle or even sinful lapses. The sincerely converted can and do act contrary to their new nature, but the key is that it is contrary to who they now are and not consistent with it. 

As the Baptist Faith & Message rightly confesses, Believers may fall into sin through neglect and temptation, whereby they grieve the Spirit, impair their graces and comforts, and bring reproach on the cause of Christ and temporal judgments on themselves; yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. Article V, God’s Purpose of Grace

It was the evidence of true conversion in the life of Saul that persuaded and reassured the disciples in Jerusalem that Saul was indeed now a fellow brother in Christ. 

What is the evidence of change in your life that testifies to God’s gracious work of conversion? Reflecting on that question should provide many reasons for thankfulness and praise to God for his grace. 

If, by chance, you claim to have encountered Christ, but your allegiances remain unaffected; If your thinking, speaking, and acting remain unchanged, then it was likely not Christ whom you encountered, nor a genuine conversion that you experienced. 

This morning, I want us to reflect on the change wrought in the Apostle Paul by encountering Christ.To encounter Christ is to change, so that we follow Jesus in the costly life of Christian discipleship lived in and with the church.

I.) The Change (Acts 9:19-22) 

The first and primary evidence of genuine change in Saul is his allegiance to Jesus Christ, whom he once denied and persecuted. He was a persecutor of Christ, and now he is a proclaimer that Jesus is the Christ. 

For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” (Ac 9:19–20)

22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. (Ac 9:22)

All who hear Saul’s preaching can’t believe what they are hearing. The man who made havoc for all who called upon the name of Jesus is now proclaiming the name of Jesus. 

The central claim of Saul’s preaching is that Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified one, is the Son of God, the Anointed One, the Christ. Jesus of Nazareth, then, is the Lord through whom God will bring about all his saving promises. To receive the Lord’s salvation, one must call upon the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:21, 36). 

Notice something else. The way Saul is going about this shows that his encounter with Christ has changed his understanding of the Scriptures. 

We read that Saul, “confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.” (Acts 9:22)

How did Saul prove that Jesus was the Christ? What do you think he did? The word translated as “proving” in most English translations conveys the idea of joining, knitting, or putting together. 

Saul is taking Old Testament passages and combining them to prove that Jesus is the Christ in accordance with the Scriptures. This is how Paul describes receiving the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15.

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Co 15:3–4)

Saul has changed. That change is evident in his conviction. It is obvious in his proclamation of who Jesus is and in his new understanding of the Scriptures as about Jesus. 

It is also evident in his character. Saul now pursues the good of those who follow Jesus and the good of those who do not by preaching Jesus to them. 

Saul’s conversion should be an encouragement to all of us that his sovereign grace can change even the most hardened sinners. There is no sin so grave that God’s grace cannot be greater still. 

Beyond that, friend. Saul’s conversion and young Christian life are an encouragement that you can change. Notice that in verse 22, we are told that Saul increased all the more in strength. The source of that strength is the Holy Spirit.

I wonder how many of us this morning at the start of this new year need to be reminded of the transformative power of God by His Spirit. What part of your walk with the Lord needs to be strengthened? Will you believe that the God who saved you in Christ can and will strengthen you by his Spirit?

6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you (Jas 4:6–8)

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 Jn 1:9)

Believe this promise, beloved, and act on it. Take your temptations and troubles before the Lord, draw near to God, and be strengthened by his grace. 

The change of Saul’s convictions and character bears witness to the sincerity of his conversion. The next point strengthens the case, as Saul embraces the sufferings of Christ and the cost of discipleship. 

II.) The Cost (Acts 9:23-25) 

You may remember that the risen Christ said that Saul would suffer for Christ’s sake. 

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. (Ac 9:15–16)

That begins almost immediately as the Jews plot to kill Saul. 

23 When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket. (Ac 9:23–25)

How many people at this moment would have done a risk assessment and decide that it would be safer not to follow Jesus? Paul here, and especially throughout the rest of the New Testament, demonstrates genuine conversion because he accepts the cost of discipleship. He will share in the sufferings of Christ, and he will suffer because of the name of Christ.

We would do well to reflect on vs 24-25, 24, but their plot became known to Saul. They were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him, 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

Christian faithfulness perseveres in suffering, but it does not carelessly pursue it. The Bible always honors Martys, but it never romanticizes martyrdom. Paul learns of a threat to his life and wisely removes himself from its danger. 

If we pay attention to the lowering of Paul in a basket, we might remember that Rahab lowered the spies down a window in Joshua 2 and how David was lowered down through a window as he ran from King Saul. 

15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. (Jos 2:15)

11 Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David’s wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” 12 So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped. (1 Sa 19:11–12)

Like the Spies and David, Saul may be on the run from those who wish him harm, but he is God’s chosen servant, and through God, He will work to deliver his people. 

Jesus clearly told us there is a cost to discipleship. We are to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus. Jesus also taught us the parable of the four soils. Many who profess faith at first have their faith choked out by the difficulty of the word. 

Referring to the seed thrown on rocky ground, Jesus said,20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. (Mt 13:20–21)

Saul has encountered the risen Christ and so embraced the cost of following Jesus. 

Have you considered that the assurance of your salvation has more to do with your continual trust in Christ in the present than a decision you made in the past? 

We will not likely experience this level of persecution as Saul did, but whatever pain we experience for the name of Jesus should be done remembering the promises of Jesus. 

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Mt 5:10–11)

III.) The Church (Acts 9:26-31) 

Saul was commissioned by the risen Christ himself to be an Apostle to the Gentiles. This would puff up lesser men. It would keep them from local church accountability and partnerships. That’s not what Saul does. Listen to the simple sentence in verse 26, And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples (Ac 9:26)

Saul seeks more relationships and more partnerships among disciples of Jesus for his own benefit and for the advancement of the gospel. This is also evidence of a sincere conversion. Saul desires Christian fellowship and gospel partnership for ministry. 

What is even more interesting to me is the space the church has to assess and affirm Saul before bringing him into the fold. 

But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus. 28 So he went in and out among them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord. 29 And he spoke and disputed against the Hellenists. But they were seeking to kill him. 30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. (Ac 9:27–30)

The evidence of Saul’s conversion is what persuades the church that he truly had an encounter with Christ and is a Christian brother. This is the beginning of his relationship with the local church. The next time we encounter Paul, he will be sent out by the church of Antioch, which he and Barnabas seemed to have made their “home church” for his first missionary journey. 

I love this! The man commissioned by the risen Christ submits and is accountable to the local church. All of Paul’s ministry from here on out is in cooperation with local churches. All of his writing ministry was committed to the strengthening of local churches. 

You see, one of the simplest signs of a saving encounter with Christ is a love for the bride of Christ, the church. And those who love the church desire to be submissive and accountable to the church. 

Illustration: My ordination at North Wake.

Perhaps the Lord has gifted and equipped you, and I wonder if you’re demonstrating the humility Paul does here by being submissive and accountable to the church. 

I’m only encouraged by those who want to lead if they first demonstrate a willingness to follow and serve the local church. 

To encounter Christ is to change, so that we follow Jesus in the costly life of Christian discipleship lived in and with the church.