Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture: Gal. 1: 15-17 Jan. 19, 2024

Message: “God’s Plan for our Lives.”

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro: 1.  So far in our study of the Book of Galatians, we learned how the Galatians wandered away from the truth because some Jewish leaders convinced them they had to be circumcised and keep all the O.T. laws given to Moses in addition to trusting in Jesus to save them.

a. Paul quickly wrote to tell them that salvation is a free gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. 

b. As it says in II Cor. 5:17, “He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might receive from Him the righteousness of God.”

2. Secondly, we learned how Saul was confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus, how Jesus sent him to Damascus where the prophet Ananias baptized him and laid hands on him, and Jesus filled Saul with the Holy Spirit.

a. Saul was Paul’s name in Hebrew. But once he started working as a missionary among the Gentiles, he became known by his Greek name.

b. Today we would like to consider Paul’s conversion from different perspective, using Gal. 1:15-17 as our guide.

A. In vs. 15, it begins by saying: “But when God, who set me apart from my birth…”

1. In plain words, before Paul was even born, God had a plan for his life. 

a. In Rom. 8: 29, it says: “Those whom God foreknew He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

b. God’s foreknowledge seems to be the link between predestination and our free wills. 

2. But based on all that God knows, He chose Paul to serve Him before he was even born.

3. Taking a good look at ourselves, are we living up to God’s plan for our lives?

B. Vs. 15 continues: “When God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace…”

1. Remember how Paul grew up and was trained to be a Pharisee. Remember how he did all he could to destroy Christians in Jerusalem and wanted to do the same in Damascus?

a. He tortured Christians, had them put into jail, and and sometimes had them killed. In fact, as the Jewish leaders stoned Stephen (Acts 6-8:1), Paul was there consenting to his death.

b. If we look back over our own lives, what did we do that we know was wrong? What have we done sincerely thinking we were doing the right thing, but now know it was the wrong thing?

2. Yet in spite of all Paul’s faults, God chose him “by His grace.” And if you have truly come to believe in Jesus, in spite of your past, don’t you agree God has only chosen us by His grace too?

C. Starting at the end of vs. 15 and continuing into vs. 16, Paul wrote: “God was pleased to reveal His Son in me…”

1. Paul was admitting that he did not deserve this privilege. 

This could never have happened if Jesus had not died on the cross for his sins and made him righteous in the eyes of God.

a. But the coming of Jesus into his heart made him into a changed man. In Col. 1:27, Paul speaks of “Christ in you the hope of glory.”

b. John the Baptist called people to repent of their sins and then baptized them in water. And when Jesus came, He also called people to repent of their sins, but then He baptized those who put their trust in Him with the Holy Spirit.

2. Praise God, we who have truly believed have been baptized with the Holy Spirit. And we can say along with Paul: “Christ in me” is “the hope glory.”

D. Finally, in vs. 17, he wrote: “that I might preach Him among the Gentiles.

1. In our day, many ministers including me feel called to preach Christ among the Gentiles. I have done this now for 55 years. I can honestly say I was very specifically called. 

a. My personal mission statement, regardless of where I preached has always been: “I prayerfully desire to be centered in Christ and led by the Spirit while sharing God’s love in a friendly caring way.”

b. Some of you have heard my testimony before, but most of you who receive my message through my blog have not.

2. I was studying to become an electrical engineer when I almost burned down the lab on three way motors. I was getting good grades, and I was near the end of my third year in college.

a. This experience shocked me into the reality that I was not prepared to do this. I could learn and do the math, but I was not prepared for a real job.

b. In the summer months, I had either worked for my father who was a carpenter, or cut lawns and worked on gardens. I did OK. But if I was going to do electrical engineering, I knew I had to get some experience that summer before starting my senior year. And I didn’t have any idea where to look for such a job.

3. But growing up, my parents had taught me to accept Jesus into my heart and live for Him.  I led many Bible Studies both in high school and in college. I suddenly felt this need to know God’s Word and to know why I believed, not just because of what my parents believed.

a. But I was very shy and not athletic and scared to even make a phone call. I certainly didn’t feel qualified to go into full time Christian work.

b. But that was the only other option I could think of. So one night in the privacy of my room, simply talking to the Lord, I prayed for a summer job, either in engineering or in Christian work.  But I told the Lord I would not work at a summer camp because I was shy and not athletic. 

4. So I felt I was almost putting God in a box. After all, no one even knew my thoughts or my prayer. 

a. But in about two weeks, in 1964, I received a letter in the mail asking for young people who would work at the New York World’s Fair for the Billy Graham Pavilion and the Sermons from Science Pavilion for the summer. 

b. I couldn’t believe my eyes! I lived in N.J., very close to N.Y. City. Now I had no excuses. I had never received such a letter before and have never received such a letter since.  I worked with about 25 other young people, and we all had a great time. So that summer, I felt God was clearly calling me to change my major, finish my senior year, and go to seminary. 

c. Twice over the next 3 years, I was told I did not have those gifts. I knew I didn’t! But when God calls you, He also equips you. And with His help, I developed the very gifts I didn’t have. I have served in many wonderful churches over the past 55 years. 

In Conclusion: Paul was the very first missionary called to reach out to the Gentiles. Jesus, Himself, called him and equipped him for the job. In fact, Jesus chose him before he was even born. He knew it was a miracle. We are all different, but God has a plan for each of us if we will listen. 

May God help you find His will for your life also. Amen.