Acts 9:1-18
My Story
I became a Christian when I was seven years old. Having grown up in the church, some of my earliest memories were of learning who Jesus is. There’s not a time that I can remember when I didn’t know who God was. I didn’t have a “Damascus Road experience,” where my life completely changed when I became a Christian.
As a teenager, this worried me. I worried that because my life hadn’t really changed when I became a Christian, that that somehow meant I wasn’t actually saved. I worried that I didn’t know God because I hadn’t had that big change. And because I was worried, I was baptized again. Looking back I recognize that my first baptism took, that God was working in me the whole time, and that the big “Damascus Road experience” wasn’t necessary to being a Christian.
Your Story
If you had a “Damascus Road experience” through which God brought you back to Him, that’s fantastic! Tell your family about it. If instead your story is more like mine, that’s great too! Tell your family your story about becoming a Christian. Talk about how God has been working in your life since.
The Bible Story
“All this time Saul was breathing down the necks of the Master’s disciples, out for the kill. He went to the Chief Priest and got arrest warrants to take to the meeting places in Damascus so that if he found anyone there belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem. He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?’ He said, ‘Who are you, Master?’ ‘I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you’ll be told what to do next.’ His companions stood there dumbstruck—they could hear the sound, but couldn’t see anyone—while Saul, picking himself up off the ground, found himself stone-blind. They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus. He continued blind for three days. He ate nothing, drank nothing. There was a disciple in Damascus by the name of Ananias. The Master spoke to him in a vision: ‘Ananias.’ ‘Yes, Master?’ he answered. ‘Get up and go over to Straight Avenue. Ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul. He’s there praying. He has just had a dream in which he saw a man named Ananias enter the house and lay hands on him so he could see again.’ Ananias protested, ‘Master, you can’t be serious. Everybody’s talking about this man and the terrible things he’s been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he’s shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us.’ But the Master said, ‘Don’t argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I’m about to show him what he’s in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job.’ So Ananias went and found the house, placed his hands on blind Saul, and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Master sent me, the same Jesus you saw on your way here. He sent me so you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’” —Acts 9:1-18 (The Message)
This story is a familiar one. Many people have had big changes in their lives when they met Jesus. The important lesson for your children in this story is that Saul found Jesus. There are two very different people in this story: Saul and Ananias. Saul had a big, life-changing moment, and it seems from the story that Ananias did not. And yet, both were followers of Jesus. Make sure your children understand that it’s great that they have known who God was for all or most of their lives. They don’t have to have the big, life-changing experience. What’s important is that they know how much Jesus loves them and what He did for them.
Discussion
• If your child has already become a Christian, ask them about that experience. Talk about how excited you were when she was baptized, and how she felt. Celebrate that experience. If your child hasn’t become a Christian already, ask him if he has any questions about Saul’s experience or your own.
• Talk about the importance of having a relationship with God, that being a Christian is a lifestyle rather than just a moment.
• Talk about some of the great things Saul (who became Paul) did after his life-changing experience. Talk about some of the ways in which God has worked in your own life and the life of your family.
Prayer and Action
Pray for your children this week, that they would understand how much God loves them and what Jesus did for them. As a family, pray that God would help each of you be more like Ananias, who stepped out on faith when God told him to do something. What are some things that God is calling you to do this week?
Jessica Asbell is currently serving as the Minister to Children at First Baptist Church of Roswell, GA. She has worked with children in various capacities at several churches, including Winter Park Baptist in Wilmington, NC, First Baptist of Decatur, GA, and Highland Hills Baptist in Macon, GA. She has a Master of Divinity from McAfee School of Theology and a BBA from Mercer University. In her spare time she loves to read, watch movies, and of course spend time with her sweet kitty, Lucy.
Kevin Head began serving as Minister to Young Families at First Baptist Roswell, Georgia, in February 2012. He has pastored three churches in Kentucky and more recently served as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Lumberton, North Carolina. In 2007, Kevin and his wife, Amy, began a ministry-based counseling practice called New Perspectives for Life in East Cobb, Georgia. He is a graduate of Furman University (B.A.) and the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Ph.D., M.Div.) in Louisville, Kentucky. Kevin was ordained by the First Baptist Church of Belvedere, South Carolina. His model of ministry is based on John 8 and the amazing, continual grace of Jesus Christ. Kevin and Amy have two children, Jenna and Joshua.
