It would come as quite a shock for a husband and wife if the period of pregnancy was sporadic! [if for some Mums it lasted 9 months for others the birth took place the following day after becoming pregnant.]

What do we understand happens when a person is born spiritually, remember Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in John 3 " you must be born again" (3.7).

Does the spiritual birth take place overnight, instantaneously?

Last week Ann Davis began a mini series called "Sowing , Reaping and Keeping". It’s a strategy for evangelism, which helps us to see how people come to faith and how they can be helped to grow in their relationship with God.

It draws upon what is known as the Engels scale, which says that in terms of spiritual birth ie becoming a Christian a person will need to move through a number of stages, likewise in their Christian life and their discipleship a process is also in place. This will range from –10 to ) where a person becomes a Christian and then moves to +10 as they develop in their spiritual life.

One of the values of our community survey was to demonstrate that for many people in Upper Stratton they are very much on the lower end of the scale. For many they have little knowledge of God and their faith journey can take a time.

Becoming a Christian reminds me of marriage. For some people they meet the person that they want to marry and within a relatively short space of time they are married. Within their marriage relationship they will have much to learn about one another. For others they are going out for a long period of time and when they do get married they are at a very different starting place.

People become Christians in different ways some with much knowledge of God others with very little.

Last week Ann spoke about the woman of Samaria and how she came to the place of faith. Today we focus upon the Apostle Paul.

Descriptions of Paul….. What are some of the words or descriptions that spring to mind concerning Paul………

[Here the congregation were invited to make their suggestions.]

Here are a few of my own:

A Pharisee, The Greatest Missionary, A Prolific Writer, A life transformed by the love of Jesus, An academic, A man of passion/zeal which caused him to be involved in Persecution.

God gets to work early Eph 1.4
Did everything happen to Paul on his way to Damascus where he was going to hound some more Christians. I am sure it must have felt like that. In Acts 22.6ff – Paul has an encounter with Jesus, which caused him to be blinded by his radiance, thrown to the ground. And Jesus says to him "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me".

There is a sermon in that verse alone.

Jesus is speaking – A dead person does not speak

Jesus calls Saul by name. He knows him. (I should think prayers had been said about him!)

Jesus questions "Saul – Why?"

Jesus reveals the nature of persecution – it gets at him.

Then Saul who later takes on the name Paul (probably his Greek or Roman name), is told to go into Damascus and wait instructions.

So did it all happen then?

Paul later writing to the Church at Ephesus writes of how Christians are chosen by God before the creation of the world.

To use the jargon prevenient grace is at work. God is working behind the scenes long before we realise it.

Paul in telling the crowd his story, tells them how he really is a Jew, Phil 3 .5- 6, circumcised on the eighth day, of the tribe of Benjamin (King Saul’s tribe), and a Pharisee.

Back to Acts 22, he studied under Gamaliel who was a brilliant teacher, he had a first rate education from him. He learnt much about the law and I would believe of the scriptures also.

So lots had been happening.

Paul is instructed by Ananias, an extremely brave Christian who goes to Paul and tells him what he must do 22.12-16.

Paul was to be baptised for the forgiveness of his sins and was to call out to Jesus. Jesus alone could bring this spiritual rebirth into being, Paul’s conversion was in process.

As Paul does this, at that point he was forgiven. Remember Paul had been persecuting Jesus and his followers even to their death v4. Paul is put right with God through Jesus. He was justified in God’s sight because the price of his sins, the cost of his forgiveness, had been paid in full by Jesus.

Reflection: on forgiveness. Paul knew what it was to sin, he called himself the chief of sinners. As a Pharisee he had tried to live the perfect life, but to his horror the very thing he thought to be God’s will – dealing with the heretics tuned out to be persecuting the very God he had dedicated his life to serve.

Forgiveness is very much a need for todays world. People may be on the –10 scale as far as their knowledge of God goes, but many are aware of their own struggles and of their need.

We too can feel that we are unable to receive forgiveness but just as it was possible for Paul, so too for you.

Notice the place that baptism had in this.

Jesus calls his disciples to baptism to a life where the risen Lord is their Lord.

God in Jesus has done the business, he has opened up the way for a living relationship with Him. Paul entered into that.

Well of course it did not stop there. As Paul writes in Romans 8.29 God had predestined those who love God to be conformed into the likeness of Jesus. This process called sanctification, being made holy, is another way of saying becoming like Jesus. This is a journey for every Christian to take. For Paul he took three years out in Arabia Gal 1.17-18. Now that may have been in mission but more likely it was the opportunity for Paul to work out the implication of Christ’s call upon his life. He had been called by Him to be a witness of what he had seen and heard v15. He had seen the glory of Jesus, he had heard his voice, his eyes had been blinded by the sight, and was now restored. So much to tell!

So conversion is it a Crisis/Process?

Well each individual is different. There is room for both although by Pauls’ reference to the stoning of Stephen v20, it had an effect. Paul clearly had a Damascus Road experience , but other experiences had shaped his life also. What matters is not the means but the reality. Foe everyone needs to have the experience of conversion whereby they are born spiritually and become children, sons and daughters of the living God.

From St Philips Magazine a quote from C S Lewis.

"The best argument for Christianity is Christians, their joy, their certainty, the completeness. But the best argument against Christianity is also Christians when they are sombre and joyless, when they are self-righteous and smug, when they are narrow and repressive. Then Christianity dies a thousand deaths."

Just as Paul was being transformed my Lent challenge for myself and for you is to let the fruit of the Spirit grow in you and me.

Gal 5.22 The fruit of the Spirit is…….

With God’s help make a conscious effort to grow in this fruit.