Sermon Outline
Change in Paul’s life; change in your life; You Can’t Fake it!
Scripture: Acts 14:9-10
Introduced 2009
Sermon Outline
Original challenge: Here’s a blank piece of paper. No matter what you do – how long you stare at the sheet of paper – it doesn’t just become something else. You can pretend it is more than a blank piece of paper, but it just sits there – still. A plank piece of paper. You could even write on it and say it’s something else … but until someone changes it – it remains a blank sheet of paper. (Make 2-3 different shapes with it while talking)
2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.”
What were the old things in Paul’s life?
a) Acts 8:1 – Being okay with sin (okay with Stephen’s death)
b) Acts 9:2 – Desiring to do wrong especially against Christians – almost like a bully
Acts 9:5 – Jesus Himself changed Saul.
c) Acts 9:20 – He (Paul) preached God/Christ in the synagogues or wherever he was at.
d) There was a change in Paul’s life, though the other Christians had not seen this change, so they did not believe. Not until they saw the change!
e) Acts 14:9-10 – Paul, changed by God, healed others rather than killing them.
God calls us to live a different life than the world. We can’t pretend we’ve been changed and try to force it; we can’t say we’ve changed and not mean it; God knows the heart. Instead – by faith – we realize God has changed us.
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things ARE passed away, behold all things are become new!
Illustration: One way to live as the new creature of God is to cleanse our mind. (at this illustration, take a very large, clear see-through bowl. Leave it empty. Take a small, clear cup and place it in the middle of the bowl. Then, have two pitchers of water. One pitcher is full of clear water. One pitcher is filled with dirty water; before the service, use food coloring to make the dirty water a yucky color. Fill the clear cup with the dirty water. Tell the children about the old life. When it is time to talk about the new life, pour the new pitcher of water into the same cup. Let the cup overflow; notice how the water in the cup is becoming purified. Since the cup is in the clear glass bowl, it is okay to over run the water. The bowl will catch the excess. Practice until it is easy to do so; when done – just drain all water. You may use the clean water as an illustration of the Word of God that cleanses our hearts and minds when we meditate on it.)
Alternative Plan: (still implement the main lesson above, but in this order below)
Part 1 – We can’t fake who we are.
· From here, make a cup and a dog or cat using origami. You must practice origami for this lesson. When you make the cup or dog, do so quickly and with confidence. Tell the children you will make more another time. The point here is to illustrate how you, an outside agent, re-created the paper into something else; so too, only God, our outside agent, can re-create us into His image.
Part 2 – Paul was who he was by God’s grace.
· Here go over the OLD Paul.
· Here go over the NEW Paul
· Use flashcards from any popular children’s curriculum to graphically show the change.
Part 3 – We have CHANGED, but we must take care of our mind. Our mind is taken care of, our thought life. This is the battlefield for our mind. (proceed to the illustration of the cup and bowls above.)
Sermon Outline Creation Date: 2009. Again, this was part of a sermon creation from the men’s fellowship retreat that I was on. I created these outlines during our quiet time; for whatever reason, the Holy Spirit was treating me to a little clearer thinking.
Again, adopt these ideas and practices into your ministry as you see fit. Both origami and a little improvisation on the illustration, done with confidence, will go a long way to illustrating these points. Be prepared for questions or even for the children to want you to do more. Just explain you will have more illustrations, etc. to do the next week and that you will follow through.
Praise the Lord!
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